High school quarterback Nick Miner was killed in Florida on Sunday, Oct. 23 when a driver crashed into his truck while he was trying to help a vehicle back onto the road, according to reports.
Florida Highway Patrol confirms a woman driving a vehicle didn’t see the 18-year-old’s pickup truck stopped in the road and collided with it on Dallas Boulevard, just south of Oberly Parkway in Orlando.
Miner was reportedly trying to help pull another pickup truck with two passengers back onto the road after it got stuck on the shoulder. Miner’s truck was overturned in the collision and he suffered fatal injuries.
Two women ages 17 and 20, presumably the passengers in the stranded vehicle, were hit by Miner’s vehicle during the collision. They were taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
“It hurts. He was a brother of the family. I wish he was still here,” Parker Stoner, Miner’s football teammate at East River High school, told Fox35 Orlando, which reported a roadside memorial had been set up where he was hit.
East River High School Principal Becky Watson issued a statement following the incident.
“I know I speak for our entire East River high community when I express the grief felt at the loss of one of our own. My thoughts and prayers are with the student’s family and friends as they go through this extremely difficult time,” the statement read in part.
The school has provided grief counselors on campus for students and faculty.
We will have grief counselors available on campus first thing in the morning for any student or staff member who needs to speak with someone about this loss.
Please keep our students and staff in your thoughts at this very difficult time. Thank you for your support. pic.twitter.com/tHXI1O3YT9
— East River HS (@EastRiverHS) October 23, 2022
“It’s a brotherhood, and Nick was like the leader of the brotherhood,” one of his teammates, Cole Strawder, told WFTV9. “He went out doing what he was always doing. Helping people out and being a leader. We lost our leader physically, but emotionally and mentally he will always be there with us.”
Miner’s teammates have been showing up at the memorial, near the site of the crash and offering thoughts about their leader on the field.
“I love him a lot. I played two seasons with him,” said teammate Marquise Wilson.
“I mean I definitely looked up to him,” said teammate Walki Ambroise. “He was an amazing great guy. I wish other people got the chance to see that.”
It sounds like Miner was not only beloved by his teammates, but also a person that touched others.
Miner was a three-year starter for the East River Falcons, which currently have a 3-4 record. Their next game is scheduled for Thursday October 27th at home against Lake Howell High school. No word on if the game will proceed as planned or if it will be postponed.
It’s sad when anyone dies, but it hits different with young people. There’s a feeling of promises not yet fulfilled and the unknown of who that person could have become or what more that person could’ve done if only given the chance.
The Florida Highway Patrol says investigation of the crash is ongoing. A GoFundMe has been set up to cover funeral expenses for the Miner family.
